How to build a volunteer management system on WordPress without code

Nonprofits depend on volunteers, but tracking their skills and hours across spreadsheets and inboxes gets messy fast.

In this tutorial, I’ll show you how to build your own volunteer management system on WordPress with Gravity Forms and GravityView. You’ll end up with a sign-up form, a searchable volunteer database, and profiles volunteers can update themselves, without writing code or paying for another subscription.

Let’s dive in!

Sneak peek

Here’s the volunteer database we’ll build in this tutorial:

What you’ll need

• Gravity Forms – collects volunteer sign-ups and stores each one as an entry.
• GravityView – turns those entries into a searchable volunteer database with a profile page for each volunteer.
• Gravity Forms User Registration Add-On (optional) – creates a WordPress account for each volunteer when they sign up, so they can log in and edit their own profile in Step 3.

What is volunteer management for nonprofits?

Volunteer management is how a nonprofit recruits, trains, tracks, and stays in touch with its volunteers. When it works, the right people turn up for the right jobs, and volunteers stay involved for longer.

A good volunteer management system helps you:

• Stay organized
• Retain volunteers for longer
• Improve communication and productivity
• Scale up operations with limited staff

Summary of the steps

Step 1: Create a volunteer registration form

First, we’ll create the form volunteers use to sign up. Each submission becomes an entry, and each entry becomes a volunteer in your database.

To create a new form, we’ll hover over Forms in the WordPress sidebar and click New Form. After giving the form a title, we’ll click Create Form.

Next, we’ll add fields in the Gravity Forms visual form builder. Drag each field into place from the panel on the right.

Add whichever fields your organization needs. For this example, we’ll use:

• Name (Name field)
• Profile photo (File Upload field)
• Date of birth (Date field)
• Hours per month (Number field)
• Address (Address field)
• Skills (Checkbox field)

In the File Upload field settings, set Allowed file extensions to common image formats such as png, jpg, and webp, so volunteers can only upload photos.

Here’s the form on the front end:

Pro tipSave time by downloading the volunteer registration form template.

Next, embed the form on a page so volunteers can sign up:

1. Create or edit a WordPress page
2. Add a Gravity Forms block
3. Select your volunteer form from the dropdown

Step 2: Build the volunteer database with GravityView

Now we’ll use GravityView to turn those entries into a searchable volunteer database on the front end of your site.

Create a new View

To create a new View:

1. Hover over GravityKit and click New View
2. Give your View a name (only you will see it)
3. Select your volunteer registration form as the data source
4. Choose the Table View type

The View editor opens next, and that’s where the rest of the setup happens.

Add a search bar

The search bar lets anyone using the database filter volunteers by skill, hours, or city.

New Views already include a Search Bar widget in the Top Widgets area. If yours doesn’t, click Add Widget and select Search Bar.

Click the gear icon on the Search Bar widget to open its settings. Then click Add Search Field to add Skills, Hours per month, and City.

Add fields

Next, scroll down to the Entries Fields section. Each field you add here becomes a column in the table. GravityView adds a few columns from your form to get you started. To start from scratch, click Clear All Fields, then click Add Table Column to add these fields:

• Photo
• Name
• Date of birth
• City (from the Address field)
• Hours per month
• Skills
• Link to Single Entry – In the field settings, set Custom Label to Profile and Link Text to View Details.

Next, give your database a clean, modern look. Scroll down to Settings, open the Styles tab and make sure the Vantage theme is selected. New Views use Vantage by default.

Configure individual volunteer profiles

Clicking View Details opens a profile page for that volunteer. You choose what it shows in the Single Entry Layout.

Click the Single Entry Layout tab at the top of the View editor, then add the fields you want on each profile. We’ve added the photo, name, hours per month, date of birth, address, and skills.

Testing it out

Save your View, then open it on the front end:

The search bar filters volunteers by skill, hours, or city. Click View Details to open a volunteer’s profile:

Step 3 (optional): Allow volunteers to edit their profiles

GravityView enables logged-in users to edit entries they created, so volunteers can keep their own details up to date. This only works for entries a volunteer submitted while logged in, so each volunteer needs a WordPress account. The User Registration Add-On can create one when they sign up.

To turn this on, scroll down to Settings, click the Edit Entry tab and check Allow User Edit.

Next, scroll back up to the View editor and add the Link to Edit Entry field to the Single Entry Layout. To hide its label on the profile, open the field settings and uncheck Show Label.

Now volunteers see an Edit Entry link on their own profile. It opens a form where they can update their details. You choose which fields they can change in the Edit Entry Layout tab.

Step 4: Embed your View on a page

Your View has its own URL, but you’ll usually want it on a page. To embed it:

1. Add the GravityView View block to a page or post
2. Select your View from the dropdown

Step 5 (optional): Restrict access to volunteer data

Volunteer records include home addresses and dates of birth, so limit who can see them. You can restrict your View by login status or user role.

That’s it! You now have a working volunteer management system.

Final thoughts and more inspiration

With Gravity Forms and GravityView, you can build a volunteer management system that fits how your nonprofit works, without writing code or paying for another subscription. Registered nonprofits can also apply for discounted GravityKit pricing.

For more ideas, see how the Larry L. Hillblom Foundation uses GravityView for grant application management, or read our tutorial on building a fundraising dashboard.

Ready to build yours? Get GravityView or try it on a free demo site.